Are you sick of your laptop or iPod constantly going out of battery? Does it seem like you spend more time charging your favorite electronic product rather than enjoying it? Well it seems the answer is almost here. Tiny fuel cells, powered by liquids or gasses to generate electricity without combustion, have long been publicized as the eventual solution. These would allow users to skip the wall plug and simply swap out a fuel cartridge to continue listening to music or checking e-mail. Potentially, they could power a laptop for days between refills. Lilliputian Systems Incorporation, a Wilmington, Massachussetts company founded by former Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, plans to introduce a portable fuel cell late next year for any device that can be charged via a USB port. The cigarette-pack-size charger will use a canister of butane, the same fuel used in cigarette lighters, to juice up anything from iPods to BlackBerrys to GPS Navigators. Each teaspoon of the fuel can provide 20 times the run time of a battery of the same size at a cost of $100 to $150 per device ($1 to $3 for refills).
But you might ask why haven’t researchers been trying to fix this problem a long time ago- it’s a problem everyone suffers from? It turns out the U.S. government removed a key roadblock just this year when the Department of Transportation amended its hazardous materials regulations to allow cells with methanol, butane or formic acid to be carried on airplanes. This opened many doors for innovations. Now other companies such as Panasonic, MTI, and Medis Technologies Ltd have been creating fuel cell products to be sold in the market as soon as 2009. I think this is a great invention and will make life much easier for consumers. Having a weak battery is something everyone hates and this upgrade in technology will let consumers feel secure that their products won’t die on them. What also comes to mind is the idea that consumers are used to getting a free battery charge from any electrical outlet. I wonder how many people would pay for this fuel-celled charger instead of settling for the free alternative. I feel like refill cartridges would have to be as ubiquitous as cigarettes and bottles of Coke in every 7-Eleven in order for fuel cells to take off. Especially with the economy the way it is today, it’s going to have to be pretty efficient for people to spend money on something they can get for free. Lastly, I wonder if these products will overheat after staying on for days at a time. After about three hours you could almost cook an egg on my current laptop so I wonder how developers will approach this problem. Either way this upgrade in technology is a step in the right direction for making technology more suitable for consumers and I’m excited to see what products reach the marketplace.
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3 comments:
I agree with the author of this article in that I think this new technology offers many options to consumers. Too often have I been in the middle of an important conversation, or had an emergency and have had my cell phone die on me. My laptop battery never seems to be consistant either, after two years I had to replace it and now a year later my current battery is showing signs of failure. The idea of paying for battery life is a little much though. We pay for the internet, the laptop itself, the services we recieve, the things we buy on the internet or on our phones and plans such as text messaging or for ringtones- adding more money to an already expensive task makes it much less appealing. I think for the products to catch on in America the IS would have to be developed to a point where laptops and cell phones could go weeks or up to a month before dying, extended hours or days won't cut it. It should be interesting to see if these new products do catch on.
Since I purchased my lap top about 15 months ago, I have always kept my battery plugged into the wall while I am using it and even when I am not using it. In the past year, I have noticed when I do unplug the battery, my computer shuts down within a half hour. Everywhere I go, I must bring my bulky charger with me. So, I think this battery is great. It may be expensive, but it will eliminate the need for an outlet at all times. The battery for the cell phone is good for emergency situations...if you are driving and in need of help, you don't have to worry about the no battery sign appearing on your phone. However, I am interested to find out how many buyers will actually purchase this item because of its high cost. Because the economy is suffering right now, most people cannot afford to spend money on things they could be getting for free.
This is a very attractive products to students and those in the work force. Since are are now so dependent on technology, everything requires some sort of battery and charger. There have been many occasions in which a computer has died while writing a paper or a phone has died during an important conversation. Thus, I agree that this battery is a good idea and would be useful in emergency situations or even in every day life. While this is an attractive product, I am curious to see how popular it will be based on its high price.
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